For Bettis, It Got Better, Not Bitter

CHARLES BRICKER COMMENTARY

Rams' Reject Thrives In Pittsburgh.

February 2, 2006|CHARLES BRICKER COMMENTARY

DETROIT — Old Chinese proverb: Out of the mud grows the lotus.

And out of the muck and mistakes of a dysfunctional 1995 St. Louis Rams front office grew Jerome Bettis, who 10 years ago was being called a cancer in the locker room by some and, by his kinder enemies, a plodding runner who couldn't break the long one.

He was an angry, hurt man in those depressing days, booed by fans and unwanted by Rams coach Rich Brooks, who seemed perfectly content to deal him off to Pittsburgh for a fourth-round draft pick.

In relative terms, that was slightly more than the beans Jack got for the family cow.

"That's fine," Bettis said proudly as he stepped down from a hotel interview podium Wednesday, where he was, once again, mobbed by reporters for the better part of an hour. The man has become a demi-god in Detroit, where he grew up.

"I don't regret anything that has happened in my career. It's made me appreciate the cheers a lot more, made me know how things could change in a heartbeat.

"There were times I could have walked away from the Steelers or refused to take a pay cut. But I learned from that thing with the Rams," Bettis said.

Not only learned from it but exacted his retribution on Nov. 3, 1996, when, in his first year with the Steelers, he gashed the Rams for 129 yards in 21/2 periods before coach Bill Cowher yanked him from a 42-6 rout.

Bettis spent the rest of the game badgering Cowher to put him back in. "At that point I was closing in on 1,000 yards," he explained.

So, I asked, this desire to get back onto the field had nothing to do with your unhappy history with the Rams? You just wanted a thousand?

Bettis' eyes widened. "It had everything to do with the Rams. Yes, I wanted 1,000 yards. But I wanted to get it on the Rams.

"I felt vindicated that day because I did exactly what they said I couldn't do. The quote was that I couldn't change the outcome of a game in one play. Well, I had a 50-yard run and changed the game early.

"And every time I got up, I looked over at the Rams' sideline. They were ducks, sitting ducks."

In his first minicamp with the Steelers, Bettis at 250 pounds was making defenders from the '95 Super Bowl runner-up miss tackles. "We looked at each other like, `Why did they let him go?'" saidrunning backs coach Dick Hoak.

If there is one player in Super Bowl XL who can be said to be the focal point of the game, it's Bettis, whose modest statistics (368 yards, 3.3 average) are transcended by his irrepressible personality and by what he hopes will be a triumphant end to his 13-year career -- in his hometown.

His parents have been swarmed for interviews. His classmates from McKenzie High have been sought out by reporters. Two days ago the mayor presented him with one of those goofy, oversized keys to the city.

It has been easy to forget that it wasn't always a smooth bus ride for Bettis.

That fateful year of 1995 began with a summer camp contract holdout and, though he rejoined the team in early August, he never had a 100-yard game and, at the end of the year, Brooks and General Manager Steve Ortmayer had decided to use the No. 6 pick in the 1996 draft to get a new back.

Their target? Lawrence Phillips, whose ruinous behavior (including a short and disturbing time with the Dolphins) doesn't need to be chronicled here.

Take a moment to drink this in: The Rams dumped Bettis for Lawrence Phillips.

The rest of the story is fairly well known. Bettis averaged 1,298 yards for his first six Pittsburgh seasons and, though he has become essentially a change-up and short-yardage runner this year at 33, he has tromped nine times into the end zone.

Brooks was fired after the 1996 season, ushering in the Dick Vermeil era.

No hard feelings from Bettis. That was a long time ago, and too many good things are happening for him this week.

In fact, said Bettis: "If I saw Brooks today, I'd say thank you. Thank you for sending me to the Steelers."